


Fireworks

by Ninjaturtlecarl



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-06-04 12:40:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6658096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninjaturtlecarl/pseuds/Ninjaturtlecarl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke Griffin meets a handsome stranger at a New Years Eve party, only to realize after leaving that she had never caught his name. But when she finds him, he may not be what she expected.</p>
<p>The 100 AU, inspired by a prompt on Tumblr. Short fic that may expand later on. Clark Griffin/Bellamy Blake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Strange Introductions

Clarke did not like New Years parties. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact it was a party- she could keep up with the best drinkers in the room and she enjoyed every minute of it. However, the very substance of New Years annoyed her. It was loud, obnoxious, and frankly it felt kind of stupid most of the time. The entire house was decorated in streamers and bright colors, everything flashed and shone in the low lighting as the entire house shook with the heavy bassline of whatever song was currently playing. All in all, it wasn't exactly something that Clarke usually would find herself enjoying. Had Wells not been here, you could bet that the blonde wouldn’t have shown up either. “C’mon, Clarke.” Wells sighed. “Why don’t you just come dance? It will be fun.” Clarke tried to ignore the implications of the way her best friends stressed the word fun and sighed. 

“I really don’t want to, Wells. I don’t even want to be here, I just came because you asked me to come with you.” Neither she or Wells were in relationships at the moment, and that left them with the only option of each other for most holidays that Clarke wasn’t obligated to spend with her mother. It wasn't something that bothered her, because if there was one thing that Clarke wasn't interested in right now, it was a relationship. She had a longstanding history of picking the people that were the absolute worst for her, as demonstrated by her most recent ex, Finn Collins. He had been perfect- at first. He had swept her off her feet and into his bed, and everything had seemed like it was going perfectly with the literature major. This was until Clarke had discovered that she was not the only one who saw things growing serious with Finn, as he had been dating Raven for years longer than he had even known Clarke. It was devastating, leaving Clarke feeling guilty and embarrassed and sick to her stomach, with no desire to move into another relationship with anyone. 

Since this had occurred, Clarke had thrown herself into her work as a pre-med student. She had once been very familiar and comfortable at parties, but it had been so long since she had felt up to going out to something like this that it left her with a pit of anxiety in her stomach. This particular party was packed, with people in every available corner of the room; kissing, hugging, drinking, dancing. You name it, someone was doing it. Clarke could swear that she could see Jasper and Monty doing shots of some strangely colored liquor in the kitchen, and she thought she caught a glimpse of Raven and Finn arguing a short distance away, making Clarke get the urge to flee the room very quickly.

“Suit yourself,” Wells sighed and shrugged. He wouldn’t force Clarke to dance, the same way he couldn’t force her to enjoy herself. He knew, though, that she hadn’t just come for him. He was a big influence, but the fireworks over the lake out back were legendary, and everyone for miles around gathered on roofs and on the beach in order to watch them. Every year for the past three years, Clarke had found a way to admire them from somewhere. Whether she was at work or doing homework, she always made time to watch the brightly colored explosions. 

Clarke sighed and looked around the room for more familiar faces, but found no one as Wells left her to go dance with a tall redheaded girl. The blonde shook her head with a small smile gracing her lips and pushed her way through the crowd and into the kitchen, smiling at Jasper and Monty as they both let out loud, victorious cries at the sight of her. “Clarke!” Monty yelled, his arm flung around Jaspers tall shoulders. 

“Hey, guys,” Clarke smiled with amusement. “What’re you up to tonight?” Jasper grinned with absolute wickedness, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Monty made a new experimental liquor. Wanna try?” Clarke grimaced. Monty’s creations were absolutely legendary, not always in a good way. 

“I think I’ll have to pass this time.” She laughed, running a hand back through her hair. The two seemed to wilt, and it made Clarke feel just guilty enough to risk a shot. 

“Okay, one shot. One.” Clarke held up one finger and the former jubilance of the two boys seemed to return tenfold as they poured her a shot of the reddish colored liquid. 

“Let us know what you think,” Monty grinned as the two watched Clarke, leaving her nervous about the outcome of whatever was in this glass. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was going to come, and let the liquid pour into her mouth and down her throat. Immediately, she was coughing and sputtering as the gasoline resembling liquid burned her throat and continued burning all the way into her stomach where it sat like liquid fire. 

“Jesus, Monty. What the hell is that?” She spluttered as she tried to contain her gag reflex from ejecting whatever she had just swallowed. 

Monty grinned. “I’ll never tell.” This immediately made Clarke nervous about the safety of what she had just consumed. She exchanged a few small words with the two boys before her head began buzzing from the liquid, and she grabbed a beer, saying a few quick goodbyes and fleeing the room before one of them was able to convince her into taking another shot. Clarke managed to maneuver her way upstairs, where the amount of people significantly diminished though didn't quite dissipate. She went out onto a patio, making herself comfortable as she sipped her beer. She had no interest in getting too drunk and making an ass of herself tonight, so she only set out to gain a comfortable buzz. She would relax, but her head would still be clear enough that she wouldn't have to worry about her reputation in the morning. 

"You found my hiding spot." A voice said with amusement behind her, and Clarke's entire body jumped as she whipped around to face the man. The first thing that Clarke noticed was that he was beautiful- tan skin and dark freckles only accented tawny eyes that stared directly back into hers, and a small smile transformed his serious face as he nodded at her. "Not the party type, princess?" She bristled at the name, her own blue eyes hardening. 

"I like parties just fine. I just happen to find this one slightly overwhelming." She snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest. He held his hands up in mock surrender, smirking. 

"Someone doesn't like to be questioned." 

Clarke sighed, no longer enamored with his appearance, instead finding herself annoyed with his cocky disposition. “I don’t mind being questioned. I mind annoying nicknames from strangers.” She grumbled as she turned away from him cautiously, leaning against the railing of the balcony and looking out at the water. The second that the fireworks were over, she would leave, Clarke decided. She would take off, never to think of this stupid party, stupid Finn Collins, or this stupid stranger who thought he knew her well enough to deem her ‘princess’.

“Hardly strangers.” He snorted. “We go to the same school, just different majors. I see you all the time, and I think I’ve seen enough to dub you princess. Though I definitely can’t say I expected you to drink crappy beer.” He raised an eyebrow at the can that she gripped with knuckles that were slowly turning white. 

“I drank one of Monty’s concoctions. I needed something to wash it down, I usually prefer liquor.” She grumbled as he joined her leaning against the balcony, and she watched as he ran his hand through his hair. 

“Why do you have a problem with being called princess? You seem the type. Always dressed up, always perfect, good student, rich family. Princess seems to fit you.” He smirked into his cup as he watched her bristle. 

“I’m not a stuck-up bitch, if that’s what you’re implying.” Clarke almost hissed at him.

He chuckled. “So quick to jump to conclusions. I never said that. You just fit the princess stereotype.” He shrugged a bit. Clarke shook her head angrily and decided to tune him out, focusing on waiting for the fireworks and sipping her beer. He seemed to take her hint that she wanted silence as he stopped trying to defend his nickname, looking away from her.

Awkward silence overtook them for a while until he finally spoke again, though hesitantly this time. “So, what brings you out here, anyways? You said you like parties so why not go drink and hang out with the rest of them?” He jerked his head in the direction of the house and Clarke sighed. 

“I’m not a fan of holiday parties, and I only really came to watch the fireworks.” She was too stubborn to give him a more in depth answer, and she refused to look at him so she missed the way that the dark skinned man’s eyes lit up at her answer. 

“You like the fireworks?” He inquired, and she hesitated before meeting his eyes. 

“Yeah, it’s most of the reason I came, besides my friend dragging me along.” She admitted reluctantly, and the smile that appeared lit up his entire face.   
“I love them. I come here every year because this house has the best view.” He admitted as his grin faded until it became a soft smile, and Clarke felt herself warming up to him as their conversation continued, the previous awkwardness fading. 

“I’m a history major, I love it.” He rambled as she listened, almost through her beer and extremely interested in what the man was saying. “It’s so important to learn about your history, you know? It helps us as a civilization not to repeat our past mistakes, and-” he was cut off by the first loud explosion, and the pairs’ eyes shot to the sky as it burst into various shades of gold and red, and both of them seemed to be knocked breathless. 

Like children, they watched wordlessly and with awe. Eventually, Clarke found herself holding his hand. It didn’t feel romantic, it felt innocent. Like a way to physically connect what they were feeling and witnessing. Somehow, every year, these fireworks took her breath away. The reflection of the different metals on the water left her speechless, and every year she had to fight the desire to paint them. She knew that even if she tried, nothing she created would ever come even close to the actual thing.

A half hour passed in silence, and when the finale hit, Clarke’s chest was pounding in time with the loud explosions. Her ears were ringing slightly, but she was grinning from ear to ear, and a quick glance to the man on her right showed her that he was too. Finally, with golden sparks, it was over. The two sat in comfortable silence for a minute, fingers still laced together between them, the last evidence of whatever feeling had just overtaken them. They both seemed reluctant to let go, reluctant to let this end, but they did anyways, smiling rather awkwardly at one another. “I should go find my friends…” He trailed off, almost sadly. 

Despite their unwillingness to part, Clarke accepted it was necessary. Wells would be looking for her, and she had a test on Monday, and she needed to study for at least a few minutes before going to sleep. “It was nice meeting you.” She called as he paused at the entrance to the patio, smirking at her. 

“You too, princess.” This time, the nickname flooded her with embarrassment and her whole body flushed, and then he was gone. 

It was only after he had left her standing there in stunned silence that she realized she had never gotten a phone number, or even a name.


	2. Even Weirder Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke gets into a strange situation, and stranger friends come out of it.

Clarke was restless. Honestly, she was more than restless. Since New Years Eve, she had done nothing but work and study, and she had faded back into her usual routine of lifelessness that left her drained. It laid out the groundwork for her eventual journey into medical school, but what good was it if she didn’t enjoy what she was focusing so hard on? She loved medicine, she truly did, but there was a dullness to studying it that left her exhausted no matter how much sleep she got. She told herself that this was just because of the metonymy of the situation and that it had nothing to do with strangers with bright, unnatural eyes on back patios. If Clarke was good at anything, she was good at pushing forward, and so she threw herself into every activity she participated in. 

However, the issue with that was that she finished these activities very quickly, and it led her into situations such as the one she was currently in- hiding in a bathroom stall outside the campus library from her ex-boyfriend. She had been here for hours, buried in the exciting subject of the human digestive system, and she had almost had her research paper done. She had been so, so close to the final pages. All of her research was done, the outline was done, and fifteen pages of analysis? Done. Then, she’d heard it. 

Finn. He was laughing, joking with one of his friends- possibly even Raven, actually. Clarke hadn’t exactly hung around to check, as she had saved her work and absolutely flew out of the library, just in time to see Finn watch her go. Clarke usually wasn’t the type to run away from her problems- despite her feminine appearance, she had no issues with conflict. She could take it as well as dish it out. However, this was one problem that Clarke had no emotional availability to solve. She had told herself to eject herself from the situation and move on with her life, but that was really quite hard whenever Finn seemed to find her everywhere she went to avoid him. 

It wasn’t even really that Clarke had any lingering feelings for him, it was mostly centered around the fact that she was ashamed of having been the other woman for so long without even knowing it. She had essentially stolen Raven’s boyfriend and best friend, the person who had been by her side her entire life. Her only family. Despite the fact that logically she knew she wasn’t the one at fault in the situation, and countless friends reassuring her that Finn was definitely the scumbag in this situation, it was still hard for her to accept that she had hurt someone on such a personal level without even intending to. She wanted to save people- not damage them. 

So, she found herself frantically dialing Wells’ phone number in a bathroom stall, bouncing on her heels as she chewed on her bottom lip. “Pick up, you stupid-” “This is Wells, I can’t come to the phone right now, leave a message and I’ll get back to you.” Clarke hung up the phone and groaned as she left the stall, staring into the mirror. Without Wells to come check outside the bathroom, she risked running into Finn if she left. Or worse- she risked running into him while he was waiting for her outside the bathroom after seeing her flee the library. 

So this left her with the only option of sitting in here and waiting until someone else came in so she could ask them if he was out there. She waited impatiently, even going as far as to text Wells over and over in a desperate attempt to receive rescue, but it was to no avail. He was likely working or in class, leaving her with few options of people who could come help her on campus. She wouldn’t make Monty or Jasper drive out here- despite both being geniuses in their own respects, Monty had chosen not to attend college at all whereas Jasper had chosen to drop out and save his money until he had chosen a major that made sense for him. That left her with very few options besides Wells, as she typically didn’t have too many friends at school due to her intent focus on her work. Clarke often felt like she was viewed as the kind of person who had no idea how to have fun. 

Finally, after what had to have been a half hour of waiting, a brunette girl walked in, all leather and ripped jeans, giving off both the “I’m too gorgeous for this shit” and “I’m too much of a badass for this shit” vibes. Clarke was almost hesitant to start a question, and she cleared her throat before approaching her in order to avoid startling her and likely getting punched for doing so. “Hey, I’m sorry to bug you, but did you see a guy standing out there?” Clarke questioned awkwardly, feeling extremely uncomfortable with this situation. 

The brunette stared at her with slight apprehension and suspicion, looking Clarke directly in the eyes. “Why?” She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn’t seem to be angry, just suspicious. Clarke took a deep breath before launching into her explanation. 

“My ex-boyfriend saw me leaving the library to get away from him, and I don’t want to go out there and have him see me or be waiting for me because then he’s going to try to talk to me-” 

“You seriously think he’d wait for you outside of a girls bathroom?” The taller girl said, looking a little bit startled. “How long have you even been hiding in here?” Clarke shrugged, not wanting to admit how long it had been.

“Around a half hour or so.” The blonde finally sighed, realizing that the other girl wasn’t going to relent. The brunette hesitated, looking between Clarke and the door before sighing. 

“Nobody is out there, but if you’re that freaked out that he might be then I’ll walk you out to your car if you want.” She offered. “I’m Octavia, by the way.” Clarke was satisfied that she finally had a name to go with a face around here, seeing as she typically didn’t have many social interactions at school with anybody but Wells.

“I’m Clarke. I’d honestly love if you did. I’m not opposed to arguing with him if necessary, but I’d rather not, and he probably won’t try to talk to me unless I’m alone.” She rubbed her hands together, never having been this grateful for a weird encounter in a girls bathroom. Octavia took a minute to wash her hands and check her phone before nodding. 

“Alright, let’s try to make this kind of quick, I have class in twenty minutes and I can’t miss again or my professor is probably gonna flunk me for the semester.” Octavia sighed as she took one last moment to adjust her hair before leading Clarke out of the bathroom, holding the door open for her. “Let me know if you see him, I’ll pretend to talk to you about some hot date you went on last night.” 

Clarke found herself smiling at Octavia’s rough nature, and she also found herself enjoying the way that the girl seemed genuinely concerned about getting her through and out of the building without encountering Finn. 

“I really have to thank you for doing this, I honestly don’t know if I would have done in your position,” Clarke admitted. “I can’t imagine myself having a creepy interaction in a bathroom and then going on to help the person I had the creepy interaction with.” She smiled, and Octavia laughed slightly. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry but that was pretty weird. You kind of just came out of the shadows like some kind of blonde ghost. It was a little creepy.” She shrugged. “It’s really not a problem, though. I’d want someone to help me out if I was in your situation, so, I really can’t blame you for trying.” They made it to the doors and into the parking lot, and Clarke turned to her with a grin. 

“Thanks again for helping me out. If i can do anything to repay you, let me know.” Clarke laughed and Octavia gave her a smile in return. 

“I’m good. If you ever want to hang out in a non-creepy way, let me know.” She began scribbling on the back of what looked to be a receipt, and when she handed it to Clarke it was a phone number. “Try to call, if you can. I have limited texting and it’s a pain in the ass.” Octavia grinned. 

Immediately, Clarke felt lighter. She had been having trouble meeting anyone- especially other girls to be friends with. “Yeah, I’ll definitely give you a call as soon as I get some free time to hang out.” She sighed brightly, flicking a few strands of hair out of her eyes as the wind picked up. Octavia checked the time on her phone and cursed, putting it into the back pocket of her jeans. 

“I’ve gotta take off so I can make it to class, but it was cool meeting you. Call me sometime if you want to get together and hang out, I work weekdays but most weekends I’m off.” Octavia smiled and began walking quickly in the direction they’d come from while Clarke got into her car, unable to remove the smile from her face. 

She’d actually made a friend today. 

***

“Wells, you dick! I was calling you because it was an emergency!” Clarke exclaimed as soon as her best friends’ ringtone went off, and she twirled her pen that she’d been using to scribble out an outline for a paper in her fingers. 

“I’m sorry, I was in class and then I didn’t end up having the time to call you until now.” Wells groaned. Clarke’s temper was legendary, especially in situations like this. He’d gotten her twenty or so text messages that detailed what had happened, and he felt bad that he hadn’t been able to help her. At the same time, he wished that she would just face Finn and tell him to shove it, but he knew that she wouldn’t. She considered distancing herself to be the best plan of action, and he couldn’t blame her entirely for it. “Anyway, did he seriously cause you to hide in a bathroom?”

“Yes! I mean, he didn’t make me or anything. It’s not like he chased me, but there’s no way that he didn’t see me and at least look for me afterwards. I was alone, and every time he sees me by myself he tries to ‘explain things’ to me.” She responded bitterly, collapsing on her bed and staring at the ceiling. She didn’t miss the relationship, and she didn’t miss Finn. She missed who she had convinced herself he was and the companionship that had come out of the fabricated mess. “I just don’t want to listen to his excuses, Wells. They were long distance, it wasn’t like they were broken up.” She sighed. 

“I know. It’s definitely pretty screwed up, but maybe you should hear him out. Not for him, but for you. Could help you get closure or whatever.” Wells said absentmindedly, causing Clarke to let out a very unladylike snort. 

“No thanks, Wells. I’m good. He wasn’t worth my time then, and he isn’t worth it now.” She sighed as she checked the clock. “I have to get back to work, my art history professor assigned me with a pain in the ass paper on top of the research paper I’m already working on for my physiology class.” 

The two hung up, and after several more hours of work, Clarke found herself laying in bed restlessly. She wasn’t able to sleep despite having to work rather early, and she knew that she would pay for it in the morning. However, it was impossible to sleep when every time she closed her eyes, images of fireworks and a boy with a constellation of freckles on his nose danced behind her eyes and prevented her from getting any sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in a day because I felt like it would be fun to write this particular scene- and I was right. This is mostly filler, but I thought that it was important to introduce Octavia because I love her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke finally finds out who her mystery boy is, and it doesn't exactly go as planned.

Clarke Griffin was annoyed. 

When Clarke was annoyed, it was not the average individual's kind of annoyance. It was not a vague irritation that made her a little bit grumpy throughout the day. She had immovable patience after dealing with her mother and helping her mother with patients throughout the years, so when she was annoyed, it really meant that she was seething. 

Currently, she was seething because of the big, fat ‘C-’ on her history paper she had turned in last week. Not only had she been forced to wait for such a long period of time for her grade, but she also got a below average score, which was something that didn’t happen. Not to her. 

“This is ridiculous!” Clarke exploded to Octavia over their lunch table, and Octavia smirked. 

“If this is how you react to a C, I’d hate to see what you would’ve done with my grades in high school.” The girl snorted as she took a bite of the sandwich she had ordered before grimacing. “This is pretty dry. Anyway, if you’re struggling with history that much, my brother could tutor you. He’s a history major and he’s really big on it, he would probably help you if I asked him.” The dark haired girl suggested, putting the sandwich down on the plate with no intentions of picking it up again. 

“Octavia, I shouldn’t need a tutor.” Clarke groaned. “In my entire life, I’ve never needed one. I grasp technical facts with no problem. I don’t even understand why I got such a low score, and when I asked my professor he said that my writing was just too clinical. What does that even mean?” She grumbled, resting her chin in one hand as her friend smirked. 

It was now February, and the weather outside was kicking in full force. Snowstorms had been running rampant, and if they didn’t hurry up, the duo was likely to be caught in yet another one this week. However, due to both of their busy schedules, Clarke was unwilling to cut their visits short. She hadn’t had another friend besides Wells in years, and she found that despite Octavia’s initially rough behavior, she was truly someone that Clarke could get along with impeccably. 

“Look, I’m just saying that if you need a tutor, Bellamy is your guy. He’s even a teacher's assistant for the ancient history professor- I can’t remember the dude’s name but he’s apparently supposed to be one of the hardest professors on campus.” Octavia hummed, watching in amusement as Clarke continued on with her mental breakdown. 

“I’ll let you know. I have another paper due next week, if all goes well I won’t need a tutor. If not…” The blonde trailed off with a sigh before stuffing her mouth with a large bite of the salad she had ordered, wrinkling her nose slightly. “You’re right, the food here does kind of suck.” 

Clarke heard a chuckle from behind them, turning to see a rather large man wearing the restaurant's uniform. “I know the food isn’t that great, but that’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” The man smiled pleasantly, and when Clarke turned back to Octavia the brunette woman was practically drooling. 

“I don’t think it’s that harsh,” Octavia commented as she leaned forward on her elbows, trying to be discreet about her flirting despite having the subtlety of an elephant. “Why do you work her if the food’s so bad… Lincoln?” She questioned, reading his name tag before shooting him one of her winning smiles. 

Lincoln laughed loudly, and Clarke watched the interaction with amusement. “I have to pay rent, you know. This place gets pretty decent business for a little hole in the wall, and I like the atmosphere. It’s laid back.” He shrugged. “I have to get back to work, but do you two want anything to replace your food? On the house.” Octavia shook her head with a coy smirk. 

“I’m good, but thank you.” 

“So am I,” Clarke added, and Lincoln nodded and smiled before disappearing off to another section. “God, Octavia. You were practically making heart eyes at him.” She laughed, and the girl opposite her shrugged a bit. 

“I think this is my new favorite restaurant. Let’s make a habit of coming here.” Octavia laughed, throwing her hair over her shoulder. Shortly after they paid the ticket, and Clarke couldn’t help but notice that Octavia had left a rather generous tip on the table, along with a very obvious napkin with her phone number and name on it. 

“I can’t believe you just left him your number,” Clarke laughed. “He could be a serial killer for all you know.” Octavia rolled her eyes as the two made their way down the road, the cold in the air biting at their skin through their winter coats. 

“He was cute, I don’t think anyone that cute could possibly be a serial killer.” Octavia huffed as she pulled her hat further down her forehead to cover her ears more, trying to protect herself from the unbearable winter weather. 

“Ted Bundy was pretty cute, too,” Clarke warned before shrugging and smiling. “We have to do this again sometime. I really wish I wasn’t so busy,” she sighed. “Between work and school, I feel like I have no time to myself anymore. It’s exhausting.” She admitted as they walked towards Clarke’s apartment. 

Despite coming from a wealthy family, Clarke’s mother was unwilling to help Clarke pay for anything besides her actual tuition. She felt that Clarke needed to learn to work for a living and function like an adult, and so Clarke barely scraped by paying for a one bedroom apartment in a decent side of town. She knew, however, that Octavia lived in significantly worse circumstances, and so she knew that she couldn’t really complain. 

“I know what you mean,” Octavia admitted begrudgingly. “I feel like I work a hell of a lot more than I sleep. Bellamy is even worse off, though. He’s working two jobs on top of being a part-time student, I don’t know how he does it.” She sighed softly. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do without him. I could never afford my place on my own, between the two of us we’re barely even scraping by right now.” Clarke smiled sympathetically. 

“That’s why you guys are in school, right? To help yourselves live a lot better than you are now.” Clarke commented gently, trying to comfort her friend. Things would get better for her, simply because Octavia was too smart to not make something of herself. Despite having no declared major yet, it was obvious that Octavia had an unwavering determination to be good at everything that she took on. Clarke knew without a doubt that someday she would do something amazing. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Octavia pulled her coat tighter around her, shivering slightly. “We need to go hang out in my apartment one of these days. Maybe then some of your study skills will wear off on me.” She snorted, and Clarke smiled. 

“I’m free tonight if you don’t have anything going on.” Clarke offered. She knew that Octavia’s apartment was only about a ten-minute drive from her place, and if they took Clarke’s car at least they would be warm on their way there. 

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Octavia smiled brightly. “We can watch Netflix while I pretend to pay attention and think about that cute waiter,” She sighed dreamily, and Clarke couldn’t help herself from letting a loud laugh escape her lips, despite the dirty look that Octavia shot her when she did. “What?” Octavia grumbled. 

The rest of the walk passed without incident, and once Clarke had changed into sweatpants and a thick hoodie, she gathered some of her work and her laptop and the two got into Clarke’s car and made the short trip over to Octavia’s apartment that she shared with her mysterious brother. 

“If you end up needing to spend the night it’s fine,” Octavia commented absentmindedly as she unlocked the door and let Clarke in before her. “Bellamy is working for most of the night, you honestly may not even know he’s been here.” She laughed. 

Clarke smiled with amusement as the two got settled on the shabby couch and began their night-long marathon of crappy chick flicks and horror movies. Clarke did homework while Octavia complained about the fact that Lincoln hadn’t texted her. By the end of the evening, the two girls had consumed their full body mass in popcorn and they were sufficiently exhausted. “I’m totally gonna have to take you up on that offer to crash here,” Clarke groaned as she sprawled out on the couch. “I’m way too tired to drive home.”

Octavia nodded, yawning as she stood up. “You can just crash on the couch. Bellamy is usually pretty quiet when he comes in, so he isn’t likely to wake you up or anything.” She mumbled tiredly before drearily making her way to her own room, closing the door. 

Clarke drifted into peaceful sleep, uninterrupted dreams of painting and the stars dancing through her brain before she awoke with a start to a low, familiar male voice hissing, “What the hell are you doing here?!” When Clarke managed to finally pry her eyes open, she found familiar tawny irises staring back at her. 

Her heart stopped in her chest, and any words that were about to escape her clenched in her throat. She couldn’t form coherent thoughts, not only because she had been abrubtly jolted out of sleep, but because the boy who had consistently been haunting her dreams for the past month was standing in front of her, dark hair falling into eyes that were brimming with confusion and slight anger. 

“I-uh, me and Octavia-” 

“You know Octavia?” The boy, apparently Bellamy, hissed. “Jesus, I should’ve known that you knew who I was,” He growled, shaking his head with annoyance. “Whatever, princess,” He interrupted her attempts to defend herself, and Clarke felt anger surge in her chest. “I have to work in the morning, so keep it down, if you could.” He said sarcastically before disappearing into the hallway, and a moment later Clarke heard a door slam shut. 

Clarke lay on the couch, hyperaware of her surroundings suddenly. The rest of the night she didn’t get a bit of sleep, all because of the same thought cycling through her head over and over. 

‘Bellamy Blake is definitely, completely, and utterly, an asshole.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really feeling a slow burn in this story, so the probability of it becoming a full-length fic is increasing with every chapter I write. I'm not going to have an update schedule because as soon as I do I will no longer have the desire to write, but I will try to update around once a week if possible.


	4. Thrown Together

The next couple of days passed without any sort of incident in Clarke’s life. No awkward situations that led to her hiding in a bathroom, no bad grades, and no Bellamy Blake. Immediately after their uncomfortable and angry reunion Clarke had realized that there was no point in holding onto the memory New Years. That wasn’t the actual person that Bellamy was- he was likely just drunk, and it had led to whatever had occurred between them. She blamed her own feelings on Monty’s mysterious liquor, as well. She wouldn’t allow herself to believe for a moment that she had genuinely wanted to see Octavia’s brother again. The morning after she had discovered who he was she had left without much of a goodbye to Octavia, rushing out the door with lame excuses about needing to make it to her morning classes. 

Clarke didn’t have any early morning classes. 

The fact was, however, that she couldn’t deal with the embarrassment of seeing Bellamy again. He was so angry with her the night before and she couldn’t understand why, but Clarke had zero interest in finding out. His feelings had been made very clear by his unadulterated anger at seeing her, and she decided that it wasn’t worth delving any further into. Her feelings had been a momentary lapse in judgement, his had been caused by all of the alcohol he had likely consumed before finding her out on the back balcony.

So, Clarke tried to move on. She shook off the image of his eyes as she’d been startled awake. She shook off the memory of his hand in hers and she had gone on with her daily life like nothing had happened. She hadn’t told Octavia, and it seemed that Bellamy had chosen against telling her as well, because the feisty girl hadn’t brought it up with her. If Octavia knew, she would make sure that Clarke knew it. 

“Clarke?” A gentle voice said from behind her, and she started, turning around quickly, more shocked by who stood there than by the whiplash of spinning around so quickly. 

“Raven? Do you need something?” Clarke asked as gently as she could, waiting for the anger that she was sure was going to come. If she was Raven she probably wouldn’t have waited so long to approach the girl who had been dating her boyfriend, and she couldn’t blame Raven for any hard feelings that lingered between the two girls. Both of them had been hurt by Finn, but where Clarke bounced back, Raven seemed to be determined to make things work out between her and Finn. 

Clarke didn’t blame her for that, either. Finn was an asshole, but he had been Raven’s only family for most of her life. “Can I sit?” Raven asked, shaking Clarke from her thoughts, and the blonde nodded carefully as she prepared for whatever Raven would throw at her. 

“I needed to talk to you,” Raven said in a sudden rush of words as her eyes earnestly searched Clarke’s own for answers that Clarke couldn’t give her. “I just.. I needed to know why he did what he did. I’m not angry, not with you at least, but I need to understand,” Raven said softly, her voice becoming slightly bitter. 

“Raven, I don’t blame you if you are angry-” Clarke started, but Raven cut her off abruptly. 

“I’m not. I wasn’t lying when I said I wasn’t angry with you. At first, I was, but then I thought about it. You didn’t know. You looked as shocked when I showed up as I felt,” The dark-eyed girl looked away for a moment to collect her thoughts. “Finn screwed us both over. I know you’ll never forgive him for that, and I may not either. I just needed to talk to you, to try to understand what it was..” She trailed off. 

Clarke took a deep breath. This wasn’t how she imagined this going. She had expected rage, hurt, something besides this strange forgiveness that was being handed to her. She almost would have preferred Raven to be angry, to get in her face, to try to hit her. Anything that Clarke could have understood. This was something new and strange, and she didn’t know how she felt about it besides the unbearable guilt. 

“I’m sorry. For everything,” Clarke said slowly, as if she was tasting the words in her mouth and weighing each one carefully. “If I had known I never would have…” She cut herself off. 

“I know,” Raven smiled tightly as she pulled her dark hair into a ponytail. Raven was beautiful, Clarke observed, but above all she was smart. Apparently, she was forgiving and kind as well. It wasn’t exactly a wonder why Finn had been with the girl so long. 

“Anyway, I have to go. I just wanted to talk to you for a minute, I guess,” Raven said before standing up, smiling weakly at Clarke, who returned it. 

“Bye,” Clarke called before resting her head in her hands once she was out of sight. Sometimes the past came back to tear out her throat with its’ teeth, and every single time it happened Clarke was still taken off guard. She needed one good week. A full week where nothing happened out of the ordinary, a full week where nothing came back to haunt her and she didn’t have to question every choice that she made. 

***

The next day wasn’t going any better. Clarke had, once again, gotten a poor grade on a history assignment, and it left her in a whirl of anger and disappointment. She practically stalked off of campus to go meet Octavia for lunch, and she didn’t even slightly relax until she entered the restaraunt from their previous meeting a few days ago. Clarke had beaten her friend to their table, so she waited while playing on her phone.

“Good to see you again,” a voice chuckled from behind her. When Clarke turned, Lincoln smiled at her. “Where’s your friend?”

Clarke rolled her eyes at this, a small smile playing on her lips. “She couldn’t make it, she’s busy being annoyed that you didn’t text her,” She teased, causing the man to laugh uncomfortably.

“Honestly? I thought it was your number,” Lincoln admitted with a sheepish smile. Clarke rolled her eyes but found herself smiling as well- the entire situation was honestly rather cute. It was like a stupid romantic comedy. 

The bell on the door let out a ding when Octavia took over the room, sweeping in with grace before collapsing in the chair across from Clarke. “You would not believe the day- well, hello there,” Her attention had turned to Lincoln, a small frown playing on her lips. “If it isn’t the rude waiter who doesn’t text girls who are kind enough to leave their numbers on napkins for him,” She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and Clarke could see Lincoln fighting a smile. 

“Turns out it was a misunderstanding,” Clarke chimed in, attempting to save him from the glowering girl’s wrath. “He didn’t see your number on the napkin and he threw it out. When I asked him about it, he didn’t even know what I was talking about,” She looked pointedly at the waiter. “Right, Lincoln?”

Lincoln chuckled, taking her hint. “It’s true. I had no idea that you had left me your number or I would have texted you the second that I wasn’t working,” He smiled playfully. “Think I can get a redo?” Octavia crossed her arms over her chest, letting out a huff. 

“If you’re lucky.” Lincoln laughed at this, and the two girls went on to order different food than last time in an attempt to avoid the bad food. Once the man was gone Octavia turned to Clarke, waggling her eyebrows dramatically. 

“I knew he wanted me, Clarke. I knew it!” Octavia snickered, eyes bright with wicked glee, and her blonde companion rolled her eyes. 

“Everyone with eyes knew he wanted you, Octavia,” Clarke sighed, resting her chin on her arm.

“What’s wrong with you?” Octavia asked curiously, leaning forward on her elbows. “Your new friend has a hot new man-friend, what else could you want in life?”

“A decent history grade,” Clarke grumbled. That, of course, was not everything that was wrong. Despite her attempts to go on with her life without caring, the situation with Bellamy made her uncomfortable and it also made her slightly upset. There was also the situation with Raven, which only had served to make her feel even guiltier about her actions. “Raven talked to me today,” Clarke sighed. 

Octavia’s eyes widened, and Clarke explained the situation as she listened intently. “Sounds to me like she’s not a bad chick, Clarke,” Octavia said gently. “If I were her, I would have kicked your ass on sight. Whether you knew about me or not,” the brunette shrugged, and Clarke groaned. 

“That’s the point. I wanted her to kick my ass. I wanted her to be angry, something other than nice!” Clarke cried. 

Octavia looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging. “I’ve got nothing. I can help you with the history situation though, if you’d just let me,” She complained. “Bellamy really is great with this Clarke, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping you if I asked him,” Octavia almost pleaded, and Clarke looked at her suspiciously. 

“I’m not so sure about that,” Clarke grumbled, peaking Octavia’s interest. “Never mind,” She waved the girl off. “I don’t need his help, really. It’ll be fine,” Clarke tried to convince herself and her friend who looked at her doubtfully before rolling her eyes. 

“You’re ridiculous. I’m getting him to help you, whether you like it or not. I don’t care if you’re too proud to admit you need a tutor, you’re getting one,” Octavia growled as she pulled out her phone, sending a text message despite Clarke’s constant pleading with her not to. 

The rest of their lunch passed with little incident, though Clarke was in a perpetual state of anxiety due to the fact that she would possibly be forced to see Bellamy. Alone. She could only hope he was braver than her and that he would just say no to Octavia, make up some kind of excuse to get the two of them out of the awkward situation they were being shoved into by his sister.

As they were walking out the door, Octavia checked her phone and perked up, a large grin on her features. “Good news! Your history grade is saved, Bellamy said yes! I’m giving him your number so you two can work on when would be good for you to meet up,” Octavia rambled on, and Clarke felt her stomach sinking. 

She was going to have to be alone with him for the first time since the party. 

Hours later, after she returned to her apartment, she was startled out of her reading by her phone vibrating. When she checked it, it was a short, to the point text from a random number. 

‘When do you want to meet up?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! All feedback is pretty rad.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sass. Lots and lots of sass.

The next three days passed in a blur of motion. Everything was moving too quickly, and it was making Clarke want to scream at the top of her lungs for everything to stop. She hadn’t seen Wells in around a week, as he had been busy with work and school, and some girl he had recently started seeing. She also hadn’t seen Octavia since she had gone against Clarke’s wishes and decided to convince Bellamy to tutor her. This left her first human interaction in days to be with Bellamy that day. 

They had decided to just meet in the university library, primarily because it was public. She didn’t want him to freak out and make a scene, and she assumed that being in public was her best chance at deterring him being angry with her again. Frankly, if he treated her the same way that he had the previous time they had seen one another, she was likely to punch him. Assault charges damned, she was furious that he thought it was even a little bit okay to speak to her the way that he did. 

On top of this anger, there was nervousness building in the pit of her stomach. Clarke had concluded that Bellamy was an asshole, that he was in no way anything like the person he’d pretended to be at the party, and also that he was her friends’ brother and that made him unobtainable, but she couldn’t stop the pit from building in her stomach. She didn’t even think her feelings were romantic. She had just wanted that friendly connection that she’d made with him back. She wanted to be able to have that kind of innocent closeness with someone, and she never had until him. 

She pushed these thoughts aside and moved on with her day. Classes crawled by, and Clarke couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so bored by her classes. Going to medical school meant that she had grown to like school. She enjoyed going to class, she enjoyed writing papers, and she enjoyed the feeling of getting her assignments done and being one day closer to getting out. Today, though, she was left restless, practically squirming in her seat with her desperation to be done with her classes so she could get this tutoring session over. 

Octavia had been texting her all day, teasing her about the way she had dressed up today. She assumed that Clarke had dressed up to impress her brother- which Clarke vehemently denied. She had simply felt like it today, and that was all that there was to it. 

The sharp vibration of her phone against her thigh made her body spasm as Clarke was startled out of her thoughts, and she checked her phone, careful to keep it out of sight of her professor. 

‘B. Blake: Are you out of class yet? I really don’t have time to wait on you. You need to be serious about this, princess.’

Clarke felt anger build in her chest, and before she could stop herself, her fingers were absolutely flying across the screen of her phone to send her retort. 

***

Bellamy Blake didn’t do things like this. 

Not without being paid, anyways. 

Yet, this blonde, prissy little rich girl had stormed into his life and threw everything around. First, there was the night on the balcony during the party. He hadn’t felt so close to anyone besides Octavia in a long time, and he’d just been happy to spend time with a stranger who didn’t know him and who didn’t want anything out of him. Not a relationship, not a one-night stand, she had just seemed to be interested in his company for the night. 

Then, she’d been in his apartment. On his couch. Her hair fanned out over the pillow in golden waves, and for a second he’d actually been happy to see her. Then, he’d realized where they were, and anger took over. How had she even found his place? How had she gotten in?

When she’d said she was friends with Octavia, he immediately knew. She was using his little sister in a desperate attempt to get close to him. And that wasn’t going to fly, not with Bellamy. Octavia had a hard enough time making friends without shitty people like princess Clarke fucking Griffin coming in and giving her a reason to be even more paranoid and suspicious. 

So, he had every intention of setting her straight. He would tell her to get the fuck out of he and Octavia’s lives, and she would disappear back to whatever shiny marble suburb she’d fallen out of and the natural order would be restored. Then, maybe he could move on with his life without thinking about how much he’d like to wring her neck. Every. Damned. Day. 

His phone let out a little chime, and immediately he knew it was her and his eyebrows furrowed with anger. She was too busy to come to the tutoring session that Octavia had set up, but obviously not too busy to text him back immediately. 

‘Princess: Bellamy, for one, I am in class. For two, fuck you and your arrogant “king of the world” attitude. I didn’t want a tutor, I sure as hell didn’t want you to be my tutor, but I didn’t want to hurt Octavia’s feelings by saying no. I’d be fine if we say we met up and just don’t.’ 

Bellamy was, to say the least, alarmed by this situation. He wasn’t used to being treated like this by women- in his life, he practically had to shove them off of him, and here was this girl. This girl who had met him at a party and gotten so attached that she befriends his sister in order to get close to him, but she acts like he’s repulsive. It made him even angrier with her. If she would just admit that she had done all of this on purpose, that this was all some crazy, staged act that she was orchestrating to fuck with his head, it would be easier.   
From what he had learned from Clarke, however, he knew that it wasn’t going to be possible. 

***

Despite Bellamy’s very brief apology text after Clarke’s little blow-up, she was still seething as she made her way to the library. Her bookbag dragged her shoulder down under its’ intense weight, and she almost wished she had followed through with her idea to just not show up and tell Octavia that she had. She knew, though, that Bellamy would tell Octavia without question, just because that’s the kind of asshole that he was. Then Clarke would have to explain this whole insane situation, and Octavia would probably never forgive her for not telling her immediately after realizing exactly who Bellamy was. 

Finally, she stood outside the library doors, taking a deep breath as her eyes focused on the window. She could see him from here at a table in the center of the library, looking impatiently at his phone like he was timing her. This further irritated Clarke, and she opened the doors rather loudly and almost stomped in, sitting down in her chair and glaring at him through her eyelashes. “Let’s just make this as fast and painless as possible. My history grade is totally screwed if I don’t learn this, but I’m pretty sure I want to be here even less than you do-”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Bellamy interrupted, his eyes narrowing. When he opened his mouth to speak again, she interrupted him coldly, glaring at him. 

“As I was saying. I want to be here even less than you do, so just help me figure out why the hell I keep failing my history papers and let’s get out of here and move on with our lives so we can pretend this never happened. Sound good to you?” The blonde crossed her arms angrily, hostility pouring off of her. She didn’t take kindly to people who treated her poorly. She knew he was surprised to see her, but that hadn’t excused his actions back at his apartment, and it didn’t excuse the way he talked down to her, even now. 

“I didn’t come here to actually tutor you,” Bellamy scoffed, those strangely colored eyes getting wide with what was possibly amusement and possibly annoyance. “I came here to tell you to get the hell out of me and Octavia’s lives. You’re using her and it’s obvious, princess. She is the most important thing in the world to me, and if you don’t stop using her to get close to me, I’m going to tell her,” Bellamy looked at Clarke pointedly. “Then, she’s probably going to kick your ass, or at least hate you. It doesn’t matter much to me,” the boy sighed. 

Clarke’s eyes were lit up with rage now, and she gritted her teeth. “I am not using Octavia. I didn’t even know she was your sister! You never even told me your name!” She exclaimed, before realizing they were in a library and being this loud was definitely considered at the very least impolite. “I don’t even want to see you, I’ve met you twice before this time, only one of our meetings was pleasant in any way. You’ll be glad to know that I’ve decided it all was induced by however much you drank, and I’m cool with the fact that you’re not that person.” Clarke snapped. 

This outburst caused Bellamy to stare at her with slightly wide eyes before raising an eyebrow. “Damn, princess. You have a little bit of bite to you, don’t you?” He looked almost amused for a moment before his lips turned downwards again, crossing his arms over his chest. “You really expect me to believe that you had no idea Octavia was my sister? I mean, honestly,” he snorted. “You can’t be that antisocial.” This remark cut into Clarke, and her eyes hardened as she looked away from him for a moment. 

“Thank you, so much, for rubbing it in. I am, in fact, that antisocial,” the blonde woman snapped as she began gathering her things. “Again, thank you. This was a great tutoring session. You gave me a lot of wisdom today, I’m sure my life will be all the better for it,” Clarke spat. Bellamy looked guilty, if only for a brief moment. 

“Sit down, princess. If you’re that desperate, I’ll tutor you, okay?” Bellamy snapped, looking away from her. Clarke laughed out loud, and he glared at her. “What?” 

“What? Do you really think I’m that desperate for a tutor? Or better yet, do you think I’m that desperate to spend my time with you?” Clarke laughed, running her fingers back through her hair and pushing it out of her face, her cool-toned eyes locking with his warm ones. 

Bellamy made a decision then, gritting his teeth a bit. “Sit. Down. I’m tutoring you. You are going to pass this history class, and you are going to make my sister happy while also staying away from me. If you aren’t lying about it being a coincidence, that should be no problem. Right?” He challenged her, and Clarke smiled. 

“Not a problem at all, Bellamy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really fun to write so far, and my schedule also allows for me to update a lot as it's the end of my senior year and I only have one class I need to attend school for. Everything else is online, which gives me a lot of time to write. Updates aren't likely to continue this quickly once I get busy around graduation, or when I start work again, (this is unless I finish this fic before that happens) but for now I'm having a ton of fun just writing chapter after chapter. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and leaving feedback!


	6. Chapter 6

The study session following Clarke and Bellamy’s argument went surprisingly well. Clarke begrudgingly had to admit that she had, in fact, learned a lot, and Bellamy had even given her tips on what kind of essays this particular professor would be interested in reading and what would help her get a good grade. “I’m a graduate student,” Bellamy had explained. “I’ve had all of the history professors at least once, and I know what makes them tick. Callahan is definitely finicky, but he isn’t impossible,” he had explained, and for a moment it felt like the first night. It felt like what could have happened had she gotten his name, or had he gotten hers. 

Instead, they were left with passive aggressive comments and only occasional moments of civility. Clarke’s feelings truly weren’t romantic. She had been interested in Bellamy as a friend, and the way that he talked about history while trying to help her through the mess that were her history notes didn’t help that feeling. She knew, however, that any attempts on her part to try to build a friendship would be interpreted as what he had initially assumed she was trying to do, and then she would lose the key to passing this course. 

Despite the fact that she enjoyed his passion for schooling, Clarke truly still believed Bellamy was an asshole. She hadn’t wavered on that fact just because he was willing to help her with a few papers. In all honesty, it was most likely that he was doing this for Octavia’s sake. Clarke had learned firsthand from the other girl that Octavia had a difficult time making friends, and Clarke was the first female friend she had made in a significant amount of time. It wasn’t improbable that Bellamy was only tutoring her because she was friends with Octavia and he didn’t want to bring out his sister's wrath by refusing. 

So, they had made it through the first of many study sessions without killing one another, and Clarke had made it back to Octavia’s apartment without even being that angry. “Which shirt is better?” Octavia asked as she held various strappy, studded materials up to her body while Clarke blinked in awe, looking down at her own plain jeans and hoodie. 

“I didn’t even know either of those things were shirts,” Clarke admitted. “Either way, I’m sure Lincoln is going to lose his mind when he sees you,” she commented absentmindedly, causing Octavia to blush a bit. 

“You think so? He’s really gorgeous, Clarke. He’s also really smart. I don't know if this is a good idea,” Octavia sighed, resting her head in her hands. Sometimes Clarke was left amazed by her friend. She was beyond intelligent, she was gorgeous, and somehow she was still insecure before a date. 

“Octavia,” Clarke started. “If he isn’t in love with you by the end of the night, he’s an absolute moron,” she sighed before she sat down on the corner of Octavia’s bed, letting the darker haired girl go back to fretting over her outfit. Clarke was happy for her, she really was, but the last time Clarke had been on a date was with Finn, and this whole process was making her slightly miserable. “You better call me the second you get out of that restaurant,” Clarke smiled, trying to remind herself just to be happy for Octavia. This was Octavia’s night- she was going on a date with a guy she really liked, she looked gorgeous, and Clarke hadn’t seen her friend this nervous since meeting her. 

“You could just stay and wait for me,” Octavia said with a pleading tone. It had been an ongoing conversation between them since Clarke had arrived, and the blonde sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“I am so not sitting in your apartment alone and waiting for you to get back,” Clarke grumbled. “If things go well, you may not even come home, Octavia. I don’t want to end up stuck here all night by myself,” she argued weakly. This was not necessarily true, however. If she would be alone, Clarke would have no problems staying in Octavia’s apartment by herself and doing work. The problem was simple. Bellamy. 

Bellamy had the night off of work, and if Clarke stayed, she knew what he would assume. It would start a whole big argument again, and it would make things difficult between her and Octavia. It was easier just to avoid the conflict. “C’mon, Clarke. I promise I’ll come home, okay? You won’t even be here alone, Bellamy will be here. That way if I’m not home ‘til late you don’t even have to worry about staying to let me in,” Octavia was practically begging, and Clarke’s resolve weakened. Octavia was the warrior type- she didn’t beg. It was likely she just really wanted somebody to be here to talk about her date with when she finally got home. 

“You are so lucky I love you,” Clarke groaned as she put her hair up in a bun. “I’ll stay, but if you aren’t home by eleven I’m taking off,” the blonde let out an annoyed sigh. This was going to look bad to Bellamy, but she had no choice. Octavia smiled triumphantly and went back to getting ready. Finally, Octavia had disappeared out the front door, and silence overtook the apartment as Clarke found herself awkwardly sitting on the couch by herself, despite being able to hear Bellamy playing music in his bedroom. 

After an hour, Clarke had decided she was bored. After another half hour, Clarke was so bored she could scream. She had taken to pacing back and forth across the kitchen floor, going over flashcards for her anatomy quiz later that week. “You’re gonna piss off my neighbors,” A dry voice commented from behind her, and Clarke didn’t look up. 

“Sucks to be them,” Clarke huffed in response, actually bringing a chuckle out of Bellamy. He looked at her with slightly softer eyes for a moment, and once Clarke caught herself looking back she stubbornly went back to focusing on the flashcards. 

“I’m sorry. For what I said about you using Octavia,” Bellamy started, and Clarke’s head jerked up, eyes narrowing as she looked at him. “It obviously wasn’t true. I don’t know many people willing to stay in an apartment with somebody they hate just so they can be there when their friend get home from a date,” Bellamy sighed. “Anyway, I’m just sorry,” he concluded awkwardly. 

Clarke’s eyes didn’t leave his face, and when she realized it wasn’t a joke, she nodded briskly. “I accept your apology,” She stated, slightly flatly. Bellamy nodded briskly, bouncing a little bit before heading back to his room. Clarke watched him go with annoyance and confusion, and he paused in the doorway, looking back at her with his unnatural eyes twinkling a bit. 

“Later, princess.”


	7. CH 7

Time passed at the rate of a snail for Clarke as she desperately awaited Octavia’s return. It was getting late, and Clarke was considering making good on her promise to bail whenever Octavia stumbled in, all ruffled hair and too-big smiles. Oh, she was drunk. Which was not good, seeing as over-protective big brother was currently one wall away. “Octavia,” Clarke hissed. “How much did you have to drink?” Octavia giggled, slamming her purse down on the counter, causing her blonde friend to cringe. This wouldn’t end well if Bellamy found Octavia trashed after a date- he’d try to murder Lincoln, probably. Which would result in his own murder because Octavia was a rather intimidating individual. 

“I drank… Kinda a lot,” Octavia slurred as she stumbled, leaning against the wall for support. Clarke pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. 

“We have to get you in your room before Bellamy sees you,” she grumbled as she put Octavia’s arm over her shoulder, carefully beginning the treacherous journey to her friends’ bedroom. If they were caught, Bellamy would freak out. Not only was Octavia not twenty-one, but he already disapproved of her going out with Lincoln. If he saw Octavia like this he’d be furious with Octavia, and also likely Clarke because she had encouraged this. 

“I-I had so much fuun, Clarke,” Octavia whined and Clarke sighed deeply. 

“Yes, I know. Tell me all about how much fun it was in the morning, right now you need to go to bed.” Supporting Octavia was getting more and more difficult for the blonde- her friend was by no means heavy, but she was currently basically just dead weight. If she dropped her, Bellamy would come out and investigate, and then both of them would be in for the kind of lecture that Clarke’s mother couldn’t even accomplish. 

And that woman could lecture anyone into seeing things her way. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of Octavia mumbling and falling all over the hallway, Clarke got her into her room and onto her bed. “You owe me, so big,” Clarke hissed, and Octavia smirked drunkenly. 

“Oh, sweetie, I’ll never owe you or Bellamy anything again after…” She slurred before suddenly laying back and whining. “Everything is spinning and my feet hurt so bad, Clarke,” she whined, and Clarke sighed before taking her friends’ shoes off of her. 

“Better?” Octavia nodded, rolling over onto her stomach and passing out. Clarke brushed off Octavia’s comment because frankly, she had no idea what she meant. It wasn’t worth looking into with Octavia being this drunk. It would probably just confuse Clarke even more than she already was. 

Clarke made her way to the living room, sighing deeply as she began pulling her shoes on, grabbing her purse and backpack. There was no point in hanging around- Octavia was way too drunk to tell her how things had gone with Lincoln, and she and Bellamy were on a strictly business policy. 

“Are you really going to drive home this late?” Bellamy sighed from behind her and she turned around, taking in the sight of Bellamy Blake being very, very shirtless. Clarke cleared her throat, meeting his eyes instead of blatantly staring at his body, though she could see the slight smirk that covered his lips when she had to drag her eyes back up to his face. 

“Yeah, Octavia is really tired, I’m just gonna go. There’s not a point in staying, she’s already asleep,” Clarke muttered, not wanting to seem too interested in what he was asking. Bellamy rolled his eyes, shrugging. 

“We can hang out. If you want, that is,” he raised an eyebrow at her as if it were a challenge. Clarke was immediately put off, especially considering it wasn’t that long ago that he had been telling her to stay away from him or he’d tell Octavia. 

“What happened to the whole strictly business thing?” Clarke cocked an eyebrow and Bellamy smiled, laughing. He crossed his arms across his chest, leaning back against the wall. 

“Clarke, it’s late. You may as well just spend the night, I’m willing to hang out with you if you just don’t want to be alone and that’s your problem,” Bellamy sighed. “If you really want to leave I’m not gonna make you stay, but I feel like I owe you that much. Not many people would try sneaking my drunk ass sister past me,” he smirked, and Clarke’s mouth fell open. 

“You… Knew?” The blonde stuttered out, and Bellamy’s radiant and wicked grin took over his face all over again. 

“Princess, I know everything. I especially know what my sister sounds like when she’s drunk and falling all over herself. I was going to come help, but your attempt was very admirable and I was enjoying hearing you try,” Bellamy smirked. 

Clarke closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You knew, and you didn’t even bother to come help me?” She grumbled, though she found herself fighting a small smile. It was good that he was being calm about this. At least he was to her- it was entirely possible that the next day he would lose his mind on Octavia. As long as Clarke was gone, she didn’t care at this point. “Okay, I’ll stay,” she sighed before sitting on the couch, taking her shoes back off. 

Bellamy smiled, taking a seat beside her on the couch as they began to awkwardly get comfortable. There was definitely a lot of tension between the two of them, considering the way he had been so angry with her for so long. It wasn’t a comfortable silence, it was a heavy one that hung between them and caused Clarke’s mouth to go dry with anxiety. 

Finally, they had a movie on Netflix set up, and Clarke tried to calm herself down enough to comfortably spend the night on a very small couch with Bellamy Blake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of filler but since i decided to make it full length id rather not just have it rushed


	8. Chapter 8

Clarke was discovering multiple things that night. 

One, Octavia was very annoying after twelve shots. 

Two, couches were not fun to try to be comfortable on with someone you dislike. 

Three, she didn’t exactly dislike Bellamy as much as she’d thought she did. 

Every once in a while the boy that she met at the party began to slip out. He’d go on a rant about something involving the historical inaccuracy of what they were watching, she’d laugh, and his face would turn a soft shade of pink with embarrassment. It was endearing. 

“I just don’t understand,” Clarke managed to get out between choking laughs. “Why is it so important that their costumes are accurate?” Bellamy let out an annoyed and disapproving sound and crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. 

“It isn’t funny, and it’s important because it’s not right!” He exclaimed. “If a woman of that time period had walked out in that dress, she would have been shamed by everyone around her,” he grumbled as he leaned back. “I just think that if they’re going to make shows that take place in certain time periods, they should have to have a certain amount of accuracy.”

Clarke rolled her eyes, smiling in amusement. “Ever consider that male viewers would have very little interest in watching the show if the women were all covered from their chin down?” Bellamy shrugged. 

“I don’t care about the interest, I care about the fact that they’re butchering history,” he huffed. Clarke was finding herself having more and more fun spending time with Bellamy, and after the way he had treated her, it made her nervous. She shouldn’t be enjoying hanging out with him. He was her tutor and her friends brother. That had to be it. They couldn’t be friends, and he had made that clear from the start. 

“Maybe we should go to bed,” Clarke suggested gently, feeling a pang of guilt when his face fell a bit. She could tell he’d been having fun, but the second that he dwelled on it too much he would accuse her of using Octavia again. She couldn’t get close to him.

It wasn’t only that, but it was also that he wasn’t the kind of person that Clarke should want to get close to at all. He was the kind of unpredictable that she couldn’t handle. He was wild and temperamental, and he was looking at her. “Clarke?” 

“Yeah?” Clarke coughed out, grimacing at the rough sound of her voice. 

“I had fun. Thanks for humoring me,” Bellamy smiled tightly, opening and closing his mouth before seeming to change his mind about whatever he was going to say. “I’ll try not to wake you up when I get up for work.” 

Clarke smiled tightly. “Goodnight, Bellamy,” she said quietly, turning the television off and leaning back on the couch to get comfortable as he stood up and gathered his things so he could go to bed. 

“Night, Clarke,” Bellamy sighed before disappearing down the hall. Clarke realized with a jolt that it was the first time he had ever used her actual name, and she couldn’t get the memory of the way his lips wrapped around the syllables of her name out of her head. Before she fell asleep, she replayed the sound over and over. 

Clarke could swear that he was saying her name in her dreams, too. 

***

Class was hell. 

Clarke was exhausted- more than exhausted. She and Bellamy’s late night binge watching had left her drained, and she found herself out of orbit with the rest of the planet. “Clarke,” Wells said loudly. “Clarke, come on. Class is over, we have to go,” he sighed. 

“Hm?” Clarke hummed quietly, and Wells rolled his eyes, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. This startled her and she glared at her best friend, huffing indignantly. “God, Wells. You didn’t have to do that, I was getting up,” she grumbled. 

“You would have fallen asleep at that desk if I hadn’t dragged you up,” Wells groaned. “Why are you so tired? I haven’t seen you like this since finals freshman year,” the two smiled fondly at the memory. Freshman year had been rough for both of them. Clarke had pushed herself way too hard, Wells had blown everything off way too much. 

“I spent the night at Octavia’s house,” Clarke sighed. “I’m exhausted. She came home from her date so drunk she could barely talk. I don’t even think she came to class today she was so hungover,” Clarke groaned, and Wells smiled knowingly. 

“Did you see Bellamy?”

Clarke’s eyes shot open and she glared at him with annoyance. “What does it matter? It is his apartment, too. Of course I saw him,” she snapped. Wells’ smile grew, and he shrugged a bit. 

“You’re awfully defensive today,” he raised an eyebrow. “Any particular reason for that?” Clarke rolled her eyes, getting angrier by the second. 

“No, Wells. Nothing happened. We aren’t even friends, okay?” Clarke growled. “Drop it,” her voice was steadily rising. 

Wells held his hands up in surrender, looking guilty. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just… Okay, don’t get upset. You seemed into him after that party, right? You spent the night again last night, and I saw him earlier, and uh… He has some hickeys on his neck. Some that weren’t there yesterday,” Wells said nervously, and Clarke’s jaw dropped. 

“He what?!” She exclaimed, and Wells sighed. “Shit, Clarke. I thought you two hooked up, if I’d known that you really didn’t I wouldn’t have said anything to you,” he groaned. Clarke pushed down rising feelings of anger and something else and took a deep breath. 

“It doesn’t matter. Bellamy is single, he can do whatever he wants. It’s none of my business. We aren’t even friends, Wells. Why would it bother me?” Clarke spluttered, trying to fight the sinking feeling in her stomach. However, Clarke wasn’t the kind of person to dwell on things like this. Especially not guys. Especially not guys who weren’t even interested in being friends with her. 

Clarke was absolutely and utterly unbothered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was watching a show on Netflix and mentally bitching about the costuming being inaccurate, and then this chapter happened.


	9. Chapter 9

Bellamy Blake was losing his fucking mind. 

He had a lot of stress on his shoulders. He was paying for an apartment, paying for school, and trying to take care of Octavia despite her desperate attempts to make him understand that she could take care of herself. He had a lot to think about at all times, but he couldn’t focus anymore. 

Because of her. 

Clarke was taking over his mind, and he didn’t know what to do about it. Their tutoring sessions were something that he looked forward to all week, if only to have somebody shoot him witty one-liners for an hour or two. With his help, she was improving her history grade and he was beginning to worry that she wouldn’t need him anymore. 

“Bellamy, what are you doing?” A bemused Octavia eyed him as he sat in a slump on the couch, head in his hands. 

“Thinking,” he grumbled in response. “I would prefer to do this in the silence of my house, if you don’t mind.” Octavia rolled her eyes. 

“Does this have anything to do with a certain blonde friend of mine?” She asked innocently, crossing her arms over her chest. Since she and Lincoln had started seeing one another she had decided that she needed to set up Clarke and Bellamy, if only so that they wouldn’t be alone. Bellamy was halfway convinced that it was only so that she could have double dates with her best friend. 

“No, Octavia. It has nothing to do with Clarke. I have other things going on in my life, you know,” Bellamy lied halfheartedly. He didn’t even know why he was becoming so consumed by her. She was infuriating. 

Everything about her made him angry. She was too smart, and she knew it. She was too pretty, and she didn’t know it. She was witty and funny and beautiful and so many things that Bellamy had wanted-- 

No. 

He wasn’t going to let his brain explore that particular possibility. He remembered the night he met her with a special kind of fondness and affection but he couldn’t let it move any further than that, not that she was interested, anyways. He had too much to worry about to focus on a relationship right now. He had to take care of solidifying both him and his sisters' futures, and it was more work than he let on. 

He was too tired to worry about being with somebody at this point in his life. 

That didn’t stop him from thinking about her, though. He thought about her eyes and the way that her hair fell into her face and she’d blow it away. He thought of the way her face looked when she was angry and he also thought about the way it transformed when she was happy. She was one of the most expressive people that Bellamy had ever met. Everything she felt was always written across her face, and it killed him because he never saw anything more than amusement when she looked at him. 

Clarke didn’t take him seriously, not in the way that he wanted her to. She saw him as her friends’ brother, as her tutor. The first night they had met had been a fluke. She was likely drunk and it made her more conversational, though she had been quite rude during the beginning. The corner of his lips turned slightly upwards at the memory, and Octavia rolled her eyes. 

“You two are ridiculous. Why do you act like she has the plague or something?” His sister snapped. 

“I don’t. I’m tutoring her, we’re civil. She’s a lovely individual. I don’t know why you feel like it needs to be anything more than that,” he sighed as he ran a hand backwards through his hair, stress contorting the edges of his eyes.

Despite every instinct in his body, he pushed Clarke out of his mind. He didn’t want to prove Octavia right, and he couldn’t let himself get too lost in this mindset. He had responsibilities and he had to get rid of this new idealism. 

He couldn’t be with her, even if there was a part of him that wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see! Writers block sucks. Here's a chapter from Bellamy's POV because I couldn't get myself to write for Clarke.


	10. Chapter 10

Finally, Clarke felt as if she were getting somewhere with her life. 

Despite having to put forth a great deal of effort, her grades were improving. She had more of a social life than she’d ever had, thanks to Octavia, and she also was feeling herself begin to blossom into a person that she genuinely liked. 

Clarke was still overwhelmed with the amount of time she found to be lonely. 

It was in the moments she didn’t expect it that it hurt her the most, like when it crept into her bed late at night and ate her alive while she lay in the darkness and tried to make out the pattern of the ceiling. It consumed her most private of moments. 

It didn’t matter whether or not it was because of her lack of relationship, that’s what Clarke’s best friend felt the need to blame it on. Octavia smothered Clarke with affection and love, but both of the girls knew that it wasn’t enough right now. Clarke missed Finn. Not because she genuinely missed him but because she missed being with somebody in general. 

Maybe not so in general. 

Lately, when loneliness ate Clarke alive she started to visualize tawny eyes. She’d lull herself to sleep with thoughts of the boy she’d met at a New Years party and in the morning she’d pretend to forget. The next day Clarke would pass by Bellamy as if nothing had changed, and it was almost like nothing had. 

“Clarke,” Octavia sighed as she sat down. “Get out of your head, it’s time to come back to the real world. You know, where the rest of us live?” Octavia tried to joke, forcing a cheesy grin. It was obvious that she was worried and it made a pang of guilt hit Clarke forcefully. 

“I know, I know,” Clarke said with a tight little smile. She was electing to ignore the sudden rush of emotion that she felt towards Bellamy. It was likely because he was primarily her only real contact with anybody she was attracted to, and so she felt safe placing the blame on her subconscious desperation. 

Octavia crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips. “Look, Clarke,” she started, sighing. “I’m worried about you. Like, not joking, genuinely concerned. I wanna set you up with somebody I know and think you’ll actually click with, I hate seeing you this lonely.” 

Clarke met Octavia’s eyes with some alarm, frowning deeply. Her friend had thrown the concept of setting Clarke up with a stranger out there several times, and every time Clarke refused. However, Octavia had never seemed quite so serious about it. 

“I understand why you’re worried,” Clarke started off, and Octavia shook her head. 

“I don’t fully think you do, okay? You’re so lonely, all of the time. Even when we hang out you don’t snap out of it. You’re doing incredibly well, but you walk around like a zombie. Every time Finn comes near you, you look like you’re gonna lose your mind. It’s obviously just that you’re lonely, and we can work on fixing that! Please,” Octavia mumbled the last word under her breath. 

The final pleading was what sent Clarke over the edge, rolling her eyes and smiling tightly. “One date,” Clarke said softly, ignoring the way her friends’ face lit up. “Just one, so choose who you want me to go out with carefully. You have one chance to make this work,” Clarke smiled tightly. “I understand you’re trying to help which is why I’m giving you a chance,” she finished. 

“I’m glad you’re giving this a chance,” Octavia smiled with an uncharacteristic softness. 

*~*~*~*

The rest of Clarke’s week passed uneventfully, a painful routine of work, tutoring, classes and homework. The frazzled girl hadn’t even seen Octavia since she’d agreed to a blind date, and she was regretting it more and more as time went on. She wasn’t ready. She was likely never to be ready after Finn, that kind of a betrayal didn’t go away. 

Even if it was just one date, it wasn’t fair to the other person. Clarke simply wasn’t emotionally available enough to excuse anybody getting too attached. 

At the same time, it was thrilling. 

Octavia had given nothing away, but at the same time she had done nothing but talk up the person that she was sending Clarke on a date with. Her friend had gone as far as to completely disguise the gender of the person she was becoming involved with, saying nothing other than that they were extremely attractive and intelligent. 

The majority of Clarke’s week had been spent looking forward to the double date with Octavia and Lincoln, until Octavia rushed into her apartment, grumbling under her breath. “Your date is going to be late, most likely,” she huffed out before saying anything else, causing Clarke’s stomach to sink. 

“Clarke,” Octavia started, turning and looking at her seriously. “I didn’t stress how important tonight is, not just for you, but for me and Lincoln. This is our first time kind of taking our relationship outside of just us and I really need tonight to go well. I know it isn’t ideal, but I may need you to accept Bellamy as your stand-in date,” Octavia rushed out, chewing her bottom lip. 

There was a moment of panic after her friend's’ words, but Clarke nodded all the same. She knew that Octavia and Lincoln were getting serious, and anything that would help Octavia feel more secure in her relationship was worth it to Clarke. “I can deal, for tonight,” Clarke started, holding up her hand when Octavia tried to interrupt. “I would just like to say, however, that you owe me. Big time.” 

Octavia squealed a bit, and Clarke could have sworn she spotted a devious look in the girl's’ eyes before she began to turn Clarke’s apartment into a whirlwind. Clarke got ready with a false air of calmness, applying her makeup slowly and steadily despite her shaking hands. 

She refused to look too much into this. Bellamy had likely only agreed to make things easier for Octavia, and after tonight they would return to being cautiously friends. Until then, though, Clarke elected to enjoy this. It had initially been for her, anyways. May as well pretend somebody was actually interested in her. 

By the time seven o’clock rolled around, Clarke had her hair elegantly swept to the side to show off her strong features and her body was wrapped in what could have been the tightest dress she had ever worn. Her curves were showing through the fabric completely, and though the dress could be considered modest on the average person, on Clarke it was almost sinful. 

Bellamy seemed to agree by the way his eyes wandered over her the second that she opened the door to her apartment, and once he managed to pull away from her body, his eyes got stuck on Clarke’s bright red lips that were twisted into a smirk. 

This would be a long night for both of them.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic that I've written in a very long time, any feedback you have to offer definitely helps. Let me know how you're feeling about this fic, if I get into it enough I may adapt it into a full length fic!


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